This New York Times opinion piece is pretty interesting, however the beginning is somewhat provocative/antagonistic. Despite the controversial stance for the first few paragraphs, I think that the article actually brings to light a very important issue – free speech and hiding from dissenting opinions on various college campuses.
There are numerous examples of this happening. I remember reading about Brandeis’ decision to cancel their speaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali because many of the students didn’t want to hear an “anti-Islamic” speaker. To what extent should college students be protected from ideas that may be frightening to them or may challenge their preconceived notions? It seems that no time would be better than college to expand whatever views someone has on society.
I would say suck it up buttercup. Not too much great happening in what are supposedly great universities. Makes me wonder if our public directional universities are providing blankies and play dough for their undergrads or if perhaps this generation is getting intellectual discourse at the local CC where they don’t have time and money to pamper not-yet-adult adults.
How can you learn anything without hearing ideas and views different from your own? I for one would be mad if I went to law school and the professor was not teaching sexual assault law because too many students were upset by the topic:
"“Frankly it seems this is sort of an inevitable movement toward people increasingly expecting physical comfort and intellectual comfort in their lives,” said Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit group that advocates free speech. “It is only going to get harder to teach people that there is a real important and serious value to being offended. Part of that is talking about deadly serious and uncomfortable subjects.”
Yeah, well, if kids are so sensitive that national issues “trigger” anxieties perhaps they need some time-out from college to work with a therapist to understand exactly that - important and serious issues need dicussion from all viewpoints. Honestly I find this editorial utterly sad. If universities think it’s oK to pad their walls, I shudder to think what happens when those newly minted, protected young adults enter the workforce.
I thought it was bad when I went to college in the early 90s. PC was just coming into campuses and I could swear that movie PCU was based on my school. But that seems like nothing compared to now.
Freedom of speech goes both ways. People are allowed to say what they want but they’re also allowed to push back against things they don’t want to hear. Personally, I wouldn’t stand idly by while my school paid for Neonazis to speak or something like that. I have the right to protest that and the school can choose whether or not to listen.
Even as a survivor, I do not personally like trigger warnings- IN GENERAL. There are times when I would give my students warnings about the material that we were going to watch or warn them ahead of time so they could do their own research. For me, this has nothing to do with their precious sensibilities and everything to do with respect.
These students are not being protected from “ideas”- clearly they are already exposed to the ideas if they’re pushing back against them. They have every right to push back against things that they fundamentally hold dear to them and the school has every right to ignore them.
That’s interesting since PCU was actually based off of Antioch College. The main difference between college life now compared to in the 90s is that social justice is much “cooler” than it used to be.
PCU was made by a graduate of Wesleyan University, and is based on the school. In the opening sequence, there is a shot of the main library (Olin) and one of the residence halls (Clark) of the school, in Middletown, CT.
I just have a hard time understanding this new college environment. I remember heading off being excited about hearing different viewpoints and learning new things, being exposed to things I’d never seen or heard before. Now it seems like students are heading off to campus only wanting to see or hear or learn about things they already know or agree with?
This quote from the OP article really struck me:
“At one point she went to the lecture hall — it was packed — but after a while, she had to return to the safe space. “I was feeling bombarded by a lot of viewpoints that really go against my dearly and closely held beliefs,” Ms. Hall said.”
So because someone was saying something she disagreed with, she needed a safe space? People say a lot of things I disagree with, but what ever happened to engaging and having a conversation? You don’t have to change your mind, but if no one is capable of listening to an opposing viewpoint, we’ll never get anywhere in society.
I like to blame Barney the purple dinosaur.;;my two oldest "missed’ the Barney era and i would never turn it on for number three. It started airing in the early 90s.
I’m not averse to being sensitive to people who have suffered trauma…but this seems like an extremely unhealthy way to approach life after trauma. And I think it’s impossible and ridiculous to expect the rest of the world to desist from talking about issues that might remind you of your trauma, so you have to figure out a better plan for coping.
That’s a great article, and so true. What is the point of diversity in admissions if we insist that once on campus everyone express the same, safe PC opinions? The idea that the entire community should not be permitted to hear controversial ideas just because a few people (or even many people) may be offended by those ideas is just ridiculous. They either need to deal with their trauma, or stay away from the “scary” lecture.
Now, I do think there is a difference between ignorant haters who spew uneducated nonsense and legitimate scholars who hold a minority view. No one is saying colleges should give a platform to the local, unemployed Klan guy who never graduated high school.
Couldn’t agree more. What saddens me more than anything is the fact that so many young people today, and young woman in particular have become so fragile, so weak. Whatever happened to “I am woman, hear me roar” (perfectly horrible song, but it did reflect a certain invincibility we young women embraced at the time)?
When I remember grad school and entering the workplace in the late 70s and early 80s, the experiences we women ALL had would send these poor, shrinking violets into a permanent fetal position. If they don’t learn to be resilient and have a certain toughness of mind at this age, the future of women in this society is hopeless.
@zobroward – Not really. I feel like the piece is unnecessarily pointed and that people who have experienced trauma can be treated with some respect. You wouldn’t call a soldier a baby because he has night terrors or refuses to watch a movie about the experiences of war. The opener was unnecessarily derisive and aggressive.
Maybe I need a thicker skin. I personally don’t necessarily feel the need to shelter everyone, but if somebody feels uncomfortable with a topic after having experienced true trauma, who am I to judge?
This has been going on for a while, and I’ve been complaining about it for a while. Here’s a letter I wrote (14 years ago, yikes!) in response to an Op-Ed by a student who didn’t want to have to eat near a Christmas tree:
Now if I could just figure out what the symbol of my atheistic religion should be.
I do understand PTSD, but I don’t think banning all lectures on potentially scary subjects is the way to go. And frankly the safe room sounds infantile.
It started airing in the early 90s.